Using Skype Internally at the Office

By now, most people have heard of Skype.

It’s the free software that allows you to call, video conference, instant message (IM) and/or share your screen with others. You may have even used it to “talk” with your cousin out East or “see” your son or daughter while they’re studying abroad on the other side of the world. But have you considered it as way to improve the internal communication at your company? We think you should.

We’ve been using Skype for all intra-office communications since we started our company five years ago and have found it to be an incredibly useful, efficient tool for not only communicating, but also collaborating on projects and brainstorming new ideas. We find Skype is the ideal solution for us given our small office space and need to communicate with our colleagues in Ukraine on a daily basis.
95% of the time we’re using just the IM chat feature, but we also take advantage of the video chat and long distance calling feature. Using Skype internally allows us to reserve email for client and all other external communication only.

There’s no question moving from email to Skype for internal conversations is a culture shock, but we’ve come up with the following list of pros and cons that we hope will help you decide if it’s something worth considering at your company:

Pros:

• Keeps “small talk” to a minimum: Being able to answer quick, one-word questions via IM chat eliminates the inevitable small talk that comes with impromptu in-person meetings.
• Keeps small offices orderly and quiet: IM chat is less disruptive than out-loud conversation, especially in tight quarters.
• It’s faster than email and includes all the functionality of an email program: Just like with email, you can keep track of your contacts, send attachments, track conversation history and all conversations are automatically backed up for future reference.
• Stimulates strategic, logical thinking: IM’s quick, efficient communication style encourages strategic thinking on how to organize and describe your thoughts so they can be digested as easily as possible.

Cons: Interruption: By nature, IM chat is “instant,” so using it does assume you are available throughout the working day; however, there are status controls you can set if you need to remove yourself for a period of time. Learning curve: Like with anything new, there is one, but it’s over quick: the curve is steep, but short!

Ideas for using Skype in the office:

• Go “green” with paperless agendas for internal meetings.
• Host shared brainstorming chats.
• Use emoticons to celebrate employee birthday and other special occasions.
• Encourage everyone on staff to have a professional photo in their profile so people can “see” who they’re chatting with– this is especially applicable for large companies.
• Create “Skype standards” that outline how and why you use it at your company or organization. Check out our Skype Communication Policy.

While it’s true Skype is not a perfect fit for every company, it may be more of a match for your internal communications than you might think. Growth requires an open mind! We encourage you to consider the pros and cons above and entertain the thought of using Skype at your company and organization. If you’re like us, you’ll never look back!